Moon Child
by jaelly-bean
Summary: One year after the defeat of Kuvira, a work-obsessed Mako arrests a homeless girl, demanding to see the Avatar. He soon finds that there's much more to this weird looking vagrant than he originally thought, and she may be the only thing standing between peace and a war that could devastate the planet.
1. Chapter 1

**Moon Child**

Chapter One

"Mako?" Beifong's voice was way too loud in the empty precinct. Mako flinched so hard, the nib of his fountain pen left a long dash across his hard work.

"What are you doing here, kid? Your shift doesn't start for another hour."

Twenty three years old, recently named Detective Sargeant, helped the Avatar save the world a few times and Mako was still just 'kid' to the Chief. As for her question, he usually came in to work early, to take advantage of the brief time the precinct was empty. That magic hour between the day shift and the night shift when he could use the quiet time for paperwork.

Mako stood up from his desk, slightly bowing his head to give Chief Beifong the respect she deserved. "Just getting some papers in line for the sting, tonight."

"Ah, right. Unit Commander Yang was telling me about that. You're going after Shady Shin."

"He's a heavy hitter with the Triple Threats, now. It'll be huge to finally get him off the streets."

"The paperwork is Commander Yang's job, Mako." Beifong's harsh brows lifted in her curious disapproval.

"I know. I just want to make sure it gets done."

The Chief thumped her metal plated knuckles on the top of his desk. "You really have your eye on the Lieutenant position, don't you?"

"To be honest, I hadn't really thought about it. I just want to see this gets done."

Beifong stared at him with that trademarked, unpleasantly stern gaze of hers. He couldn't tell if she was impressed or annoyed. He never could.

"You have a visitor, by the way." Beifong said, jabbing her thumb towards the exit. "She's waiting in the lobby."

"A visitor?" Mako's amber eyes widened. "Who? I'm not expecting anyone."

"You don't have a lot of friends, Mako. So why don't you take a wild guess?"

Mako gave Beifong a blank stare as she turned and left. "Always a pleasure, Chief!" He said sarcastically, ending his awkward wave by scratching the back of his head.

A visitor…? Mako sighed and rested his hands on his hips. He knew that a girl visitor could only have been one of two girls he actually associated with.

Spirits knew, he didn't really get out much, anymore. And he hadn't been on an actual date in….

He couldn't even remember. What did that mean?

Mako walked away from his desk and made his way to the elevator, and he rode it down to the main floor lobby. He felt himself smile for the first time in days when he spotted his visitor in the lobby, through the sparse crowd of detectives and beat cops filtering in for the graveyard shift.

"Korra…!"

He had only seen her a handful of times since Varick and Zhu Li's wedding, and she hadn't changed much. She still kept her brown hair in a chin length bob, and still wore traditional blue water tribe outfits. And even though she was a real big shot, a celebrity throughout the whole world, she still was so down to earth.

She was still Korra.

Her face broke out into a broad grin the moment she spotted Mako, her big blue eyes sparkling when she rushed to him. "Mako!" She wrapped him in a hug that could have crushed bone, lifting him right off his feet and Mako coughed and laughed.

"Take it easy, Korra!"

"Sorry!" Korra plopped him back down and took a step back, still grinning from ear to ear. "I just haven't seen you in so long! How have you been?"

"Oh, you know… just working a lot." Mako scratched the back of his head, realized he was doing it, then quickly shoved his hands back in his pockets.

"So I've heard. Bolin says you've been working so hard, lately. You look totally bushed. And when was the last time you had a haircut?"

Mako patted the side of his head, only to realize that his hair was long enough to tickle his ears. "I don't even remember. And I have been working hard. The criminals never really take a break in Republic City, anymore."

"I feel like that's my fault. I've been so busy helping Wu convert the Earth Kingdom into a republic, I've been ignoring this city."

"It's fine, Korra. You can leave some bad guys for us little people, for a change." Mako laughed and took Korra by the elbow, to lead her away from the steadily growing crowd of cops streaming in for their shifts. "So what brings you back here, anyway?"

The smile on Korra's face faded, and she looked dismayed. Mako stopped and stared, frantically searching his memory. Was something going on today? Had he forgotten something important?

"Are you kidding?"

"…. No?" Mako said slowly, cautiously.

"Mako. It's your birthday."

Silence.

"What? No it isn't. My birthday's on-"

"The tenth. Which is today."

Mako's mouth opened, a million indignant words of protest ready to pour out. But he stopped and thought about the date he had written at the top of each paper he had worked to fill out since he arrived at the precinct. Sure enough…

He had completely forgotten, and he laughed, feeling relieved.

"Oh, man. For a second I thought I had forgotten something important."

"Mako." Korra crossed her arms and stared at him, her voice flat and disapproving. "It's your birthday. Of course it's important!"

"No, that's… That's not what I meant! I mean… sure it's important, but for a second I thought maybe I had forgotten your birthday, or… something." Mako laughed again in an attempt to break up the tension on Korra's face, the look of worried disapproval.

"Mako, you know we've been worried about you." She said, gently enough to make Mako even more uncomfortable.

"Why?"

"Why? Because all you do is work, anymore. After the thing with Kuvira, you were back on the force before you were even out of your bandages! We all took time to relax. I went on vacation with Asami, Bolin and Opal moved back to Zaofu to spend time with Opal's family… I mean, come on… When was the last time you went out on a date?"

"Girls are the last thing on my mind, Korra."

"Well, are you into boys? I know some nice Earth Kingdom guys who'd be interested." Korra's somber look dissolved into a half-baked, playful grin and she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

"No. I still like girls, Korra. I just don't have time for them." Mako said flatly, rolling his eyes. This was definitely a conversation that he didn't want to have. Especially not with Korra.

Some things were still a bit too raw.

"Mako…" In an instant, Korra was serious again. She rested her hand on Mako's shoulder. "Bolin, Opal and Asami are all waiting at that restaurant up the street you like. For your birthday. Why don't you come join us?"

Mako shook his head. "Korra, I can't. I've been working on getting this sting set up on Shady Shin for weeks, now! I can't just take tonight off. I have to be there."

"No, you don't. They can go through with the sting without you, you know."

"I want to be there. This is important to me."

"Okay, Mako. Fine. But when are your friends going to start being important to you, too?"

"Okay, that's low." Mako said with a frown that looked too much like a pout. "You guys are important to me. You are! But… I just have a lot on my plate, right now. It'll get better once we take out this part of the Triads. I'll take a vacation, I swear!" He'd take a whole month off, if it meant getting that dejected look off Korra's face. "You don't need to worry about me, okay? None of you do. I'm just a little wrapped up. After the wedding, you guys all left to do your own thing and… So did I. It doesn't mean I don't care about any of you."

"There isn't anything wrong with you loving your job, Mako. But what happens when you realize that it doesn't love you back?"

Frustrated, Mako tossed his hands up. Heat flushed his cheeks and he raised his voice. Fighting with Korra, again. Some things would never change. "So what, I'm just supposed to find a girlfriend and I'll be happy?!"

"No! I'm just saying it couldn't hurt, is all!"

"I don't need a girl to define who I am, Korra!"

"Of course I know that!" Korra fired back, and held up her own hands in an attempt to cool the conversation back down. "I just… I hate seeing you alone. You don't have anybody here in Republic City, anymore."

Mako was still angry, and he tugged on a bit of hair behind his ear, fidgeting. Finally, his shoulders slumped in a sign of defeat. "If I promise to take some time off after the sting tonight, will you get off my back?"

Korra perked right up. "You'll come out with us tomorrow, then?"

"Yes." Mako grumbled, and Korra jumped and whooped in victory.

"I'll hold you to that!" She socked him in the arm and Mako just waved her off. He had a sting to prepare for.

Mako saw Korra to the entry of the precinct and said goodbye. He stalked over to the elevator and pushed the button so hard, he was surprised it wouldn't break.

A vacation…? What the heck was he going to do on a vacation?


	2. Chapter 2

**Moon Child**

Chapter Two

At the center of Republic City, the portal to the Spirit World glowed brighter than usual. The few residents walking along the ridge of the crater didn't notice, the towering spike of soft green light had lost it's wonder to most. The portal to a different realm was as common a sight as the park fountain or the towering statue of Avatar Aang.

So no one the city noticed when a figure emerged from the green light, or the little spirit that fluttered around her head in short, nervous zips.

"Where are we?" The spirit asked, morphing from a blob into the form of a crow, landing on the human girl's shoulder.

"I don't know, Raki." Ula said, rubbing her own arms as she looked around at the tall buildings surrounding the portal's crater. "It's warmer, here…" She gave Raki a reassuring stroke across his blue-green feathers. The spirit nuzzled against the fabric of the hood covering her hair. Raki was trembling, and Ula couldn't blame him. "It's okay. We're going to be okay." Ula looked up at the night sky, and saw the stars dotting the blue-black stretch to the horizon. She spotted the white and grey glowing full moon, and her dry and cracked lips parted with a soft gasp. "Raki… Look. Look! It's the moon." Tears swam in Ula's eyes, and Raki turned himself into a snake, coiling tight around Ula's shoulders to hug her. "It's… it's beautiful!" Ula said, and the fatigue from her long, long journey swept over her as waves of relief, and she fell to her knees. "I can't believe it. We're… we're in the physical world. We made it!"

Raki curled up in Ula's lap as a blue-green colored ferret. "Princess, please…! It's not too late to turn back!"

"Hush, Raki. Don't call me that. Not here." Ula swung her ragged pack off her shoulder to rummage through it. "We're so close, we can't give up now."

"But you're exhausted! You need to eat, sleep!"

"If I turn back now, then the entire journey through the Spirit World to get here will have been for nothing." Ula squeezed the last few drops out of her water pouch into her mouth, and it nothing to get rid of the cotton-like feeling on her tongue. "I have to find the Avatar, Raki. He's the only one who can help me, now."

"There are other ways to stop what's coming!"

"Raki. That's enough." Ula lifted the ferret spirit off her lap as she stood back up. "I need you to hide," She tapped the silver circle pendant around her neck. "Do not come out until I tell you to, understand?"

"Princess-"

"Please Raki. I need you to trust me, okay?" Ula cradled Raki's little face in her hands and brushed her thumbs across his furry cheeks. "We've made it this far. I can do this." Ula's eyes glanced at the moon hanging above them. "I have her looking out for me, now."

Despite the troubled look on Raki's face, he nodded. "Just let me out when you need me." The little spirit disappeared from her hands and turned himself into a sparkling green gem, that sat perfectly in the silver circle of her pendant. Once he was gone, Ula hurriedly tucked the pendant into the fabric around her neck, and pulled her hood tighter over her distinctive hair.

She needed water, and she had no idea where to go to get it. Her need for it would have to wait, though…

Never in Ula's life had she spoken to a person from the physical world. She had no idea what to expect, but she had no choice but to find one. So she put her pack back on and climbed out of the crater. The soles of her fur-lined boots treaded on something hard, and she bent down to run her hands over it. Smooth stone… She wondered if this was the work of earth benders…. She had heard of people who had the power to move rock and stone the way she could move water. Ula had never seen such a thing before, but she had spent many hours in a library, reading any book she could find on the physical world…

Books on what the world was like before the Great Flood. Books about people who could bend rocks and fire… even air. But mostly books on the one person alive who could bend all of them.

As Ula knelt in the road, running hands over the smooth stones, a light brighter than the sun suddenly blinded her, and a loud sound she had never heard before made her yell with fright and jump out of the way.

"Stay out of the street, you bum!" An angry man shouted at her, and rode by inside of an animal that Ula had never seen before.

It made a strange sound and erupted steam that made Ula cough and sputter. She had expected to see strange things, but she couldn't quite prepare herself for that. She stumbled out of the street and nearly ran into an elderly couple walking hand in hand. "Oh, I am so sorry!" She said, holding her hands out to steady the woman.

The man pulled the woman closer and eyed Ula with a wary expression on his aged face, taking a few steps back and away from her.

"Please, can you help me?" Ula asked, relieved to see another human face. A face that was much paler than the faces of her people, yet still darker than her own. "I need to find-"

Before Ula could finish, the man shoved a round, yellow thing into her hand and left, pulling his companion along with him, eager to get away from her. Puzzled, Ula looked at the shiny gold thing the man left in her hands and turned it over and over. She had no idea what such a thing was. It was covered in writing she couldn't read and some etched drawing of a man's face.

Confused, Ula put the strange thing in her pocket and let the elderly couple shuffle away. Obviously, they weren't interested in helping her.

"Excuse me? Can you help me?" She asked a woman and child as they passed. The mother pointedly grabbed the child's hand, cast her gaze at the ground and walked faster.

With a sigh, Ula tightened her dark grey scarf around her hair and continued to wander, hoping to find someone… anyone… who could just tell her where she could find the Avatar. She forced herself to not be discouraged, but with each passing person that ignored her, or even blatantly told her to go away, or 'get a job', she felt herself running down. She was tired, so very tired. She didn't remember how many days she had been traveling, or when she ran out of food, or when she had enough water to drink to soothe the horrible taste in her mouth or her chapped and peeling lips. And in what she felt should have been the home stretch of her terrible journey, she couldn't find a single person who could just point her in the right direction.

She passed what she assumed were vendors, displaying their things for sale behind glass facing the street. Life sized dolls wearing clothing similar to the kind she had seen so many of the city's people wearing. In the glass, she saw her own reflection for the first time in a long time, and suddenly she couldn't blame a single person for ignoring her. She looked absolutely terrible.

The skin of her face, normally pale and soft, looked ruddy and red, skin peeling over her cheeks and chin and forehead. Her teal eyes looked sunken and dull, ringed with the dark that came from too little sleep. Her clothes, compared to theirs, were torn, loose and dirty. Ula was glad that her hair was covered up. She shuddered to think what kind of tangled, greasy mess lay underneath her hood and scarf, and she had been on her own for so long, the thought of what she must smell like made her own stomach roll.

"Psst….! Hey, honey! Over here!"

Honey? Confused, Ula looked in the direction of the voice. A man stood in the dark space between two buildings, waving her closer.

"Come over here!"

Despite Ula's desperate need for help, and her slight thrill over being acknowledged by someone, finally, she couldn't help but feel a bit wary. No good could come from a person who lurked in dark places that smelled of rotting food and urine. She approached cautiously, knowing that she was in no position to turn down any kind of communication. "Are you speaking to me?" She asked.

"Yes, I'm 'speaking to you'. You got a funny accent, honey. Where you from?" The man grinned at her, one of his teeth the same color as the round object the old man had given her.

"A place that's very far away from here." Ula said quietly. Behind the man were two more men, dressed in similar clothes. Varying colors of dark blue, green and red. They all leered at her with cocky looks on their faces. Ula wasn't necessarily worried they would attack her…

If they did, they would instantly regret it.

"Can any of you help me?" Ula asked.

"Honey, we can help you with anything you like. What are you needing?"

"To find someone." Ula said, deliberately withholding the word 'Avatar'… She wasn't entirely sure these three could be trusted. "I can pay." Shifty men often wanted money, didn't they? To prove that she could pay, Ula took a few moon stones from her pocket. Moon stones were rare, beautiful and incredibly valuable where she was from. She could only hope they were worth something, here. Ula held the trio of silvery white stones in the palm of her fingerless glove, showing them and letting the light of the moon reflect off of their glossy edges.

She could practically see the reflections of them glowing in their surprised, greedy eyes. "What are those?"

"We call them moon stones. I have more, if you are willing to help me."

The trio exchanged looks, and the leader slipped an arm around Ula's shoulders. "Honey, if you got more of those stones?" His nose wrinkled, and he backed away again. Ula felt her red peeling cheeks grow hotter. Yeah… she must have smelled absolutely terrible. "We'll take you to our leader. He can help you find anyone you need to find, for enough of them pretty stones."

Ula nodded. "Take me to him, then. What is his name?"

"His name's Shady Shin, honey. Leader of the Triple Threat Triads."

 **To be continued…**

A/N: A very special thanks to everyone who commented and faved this story. I apologize for this chapter taking so long to get out. The Christmas season was just so hectic! Life is getting back to normal and I will be putting out a new chapter (hopefully) every week. See you next time!


	3. Chapter 3

**Moon Child**

Chapter Three

Shady Shin had taken up residence in the basement of an old Satomobile factory. A step down from the places he used to set up shop, but the law was pinching hard on him and his Triad buddies. The Republic City Police had dismantled his operation piece by piece, and now it was time for them to deliver the final blow.

Mako's body was vibrating, charged with excitement and adrenaline as he watched through one of the factory's basement windows. At any moment, Commander Yang was going to give the signal, and he and several metal benders were going to take every Triad in the building off guard. Through the window, he could see Shin sitting at an old desk in the middle of the room, with a couple of open barrels of water near him. He was shuffling through papers, looking stressed, and like he had aged ten years since the last time Mako had seen him. Losing his water bending to Amon had hit the gang member pretty hard, even if the loss was only temporary. Korra had still restored it, along with all of the others, citing that nobody, not even a criminal, deserved to have a piece of themselves cut away, like that. And Shin seemed to have swung towards the 'paranoid' end of the spectrum, choosing to keep his element near him at all times. In case of attack.

His caution wasn't going to do him any good, though.

Throughout the factory room were several other Triads, cracking open and sorting through wooden crates with the Future Industries logo stamped on the sides. Shin had been setting his sights on stealing industrial equipment, recently. Taking apart the goods and selling them to bootleggers in the Earth Kingdom.

"Commander." One of the many metal benders with them came up beside Commander Yang, crouched next to them outside the basement window and whispered, just loudly enough for Mako to overhear. "Four people just entered the front of the factory. Three in Triad colors and a fourth unknown."

"Tell everyone to take it easy until we figure out who the fourth is." Commander Yang whispered back, and when the metal bender left to spread the word to the others, Yang approached Mako, rested a hand on his shoulder and murmured to him. "Keep your ear pressed to that glass, and you give the signal."

Mako gave the Commander a stiff nod, feeling only another thrill of excitement when the trigger for the entire operation settled in his hands. This plan was happening because Mako had been the one to put in the hard work. He had spent tireless hours combing the streets, sacrificing a social life, developing contacts and pressing for the information they needed to finally put the Triads out of commission for good. The last real organized crime ring in Republic City would soon be gone…

One move from Mako and the entire squad of metal benders would swarm over the abandoned factory within seconds, detaining every single one of the Triads inside. It was the best move they could think of. The moon was full, and any water bender in the Triad hideout would be more powerful than normal. Storming the factory was a risk, but the information Mako had worked so hard to gather put the Triads at this location for this night only… Another opportunity may not have presented itself again.

So the best method of attack was to synchronize and incapacitate them all in a swift, singular move. A good plan. Smooth. Neat.

At least until this unknown fourth person showed up. Triads wore the colors associated with the element they could bend. For them, it was a status thing. This fourth person, not wearing any of the three colors, was something that had the potential to screw up everything if it wasn't handled correctly.

Mako followed the Commander's order, hunched closer to the window and listened closely, watching to see how things would unfold…

"Hey, boss! Brought you a present!" A Triad dressed in green came in through the doorway on the far end of the room.

Shin looked up from his papers. "Can't you see I'm a little bit busy?"

The Triad in green grinned and stepped to the side, to let his 'present' walk in.

Mako's first impression of the girl who walked into the factory was that she was homeless. His gut twisted with pity. Shin was known for preying on the weak and the desperate. A girl like this would have been the perfect new recruit for him.

She was dressed in a teal hooded cloak, dingy and filthy and torn up. Hood pulled up to hide her hair. The cloak didn't quite reach her knees, and revealed a grey pair of loose pants tucked into dark, patched up fur lined boots that turned upward at the toe. Her face was dirty, red and peeling from exposure.

"Who the heck are you?" Shin asked the girl, with a nasty edge in his moody voice.

"Nobody." The girl said, staring directly into Shin's face with level confidence. "I'm just looking for someone… I was told that maybe you could help?"

"Depends, honey." Shin's gaze wandered over her, sizing her up. "Who are you looking for?"

"The Avatar, sir."

Mako's chest tightened. Korra…? What would this girl want with Korra? And why would she be coming to the Triads to help her?

"The Avatar's been spending a lot of time in the Earth Kingdom, these days."

"Earth Kingdom." She pronounced it slowly, like it was the first time she had ever tried using the words. "Is that a fair distance from here?"

Shin exchanged a confused glances with a few of his Triad buddies. "Uhhhh… yeah. Few days by train to the capital. That's probably where she'd be."

"Perhaps you and a few of your friends would like to accompany me." The girl placed a few round, pearly stones on the surface of Shin's desk. "I'd be willing to pay, of course."

"You hiring us to escort you to the Earth Kingdom?" Shin picked up one of the stones and inspected it, his eyebrows raising as he gaped at it.

"If you are for hire, yes."

Mako nearly jumped out of his skin when Commander Yang rested a hand on his shoulder. "What do you think, Mako?" The Commander whispered.

"We arrest them all," Mako said quietly, urgently. "The girl included. We'll sort it all out later. Once I figure out if she's a bender, we'll move in." Yang nodded and Mako went back to eavesdropping on Shin's conversation with the mystery girl.

"Honey, if you have more of these stones, I'll carry you there on my back. What do you want with the Avatar, anyway?"

"That is my business. May I?" The girl pointed to a barrel of open water by Shin.

"Help yourself."

Water bender. The girl was a water bender!

"Now!" Mako yelled. With both hands, he grabbed the top of the window, lifted his weight and slammed into the pane with his feet. In a rain of shattered glass, Mako landed on the floor of the factory, and like a perfectly oiled machine, metal benders broke in their own windows and converged on the Triads in the room like a swarm, lighting up the room with the blue flashes of tasers.

"You!" Mako felt his adrenaline burst out of him in the form of a loud, authoritative shout. He pointed a threatening finger at the girl in the teal hood, rising from his kneel and stalking towards her. "Get down! On the ground! Now!"

Whenever he made an arrest and made the same demand, he only ever saw two reactions. The criminal would either do what he said, or they would run. But this girl did neither. She stared at him, spine straight, confusion in her eyes as she gestured to the chaos around them. "What is all this?"

"I said get on the ground!"

Again, she didn't move. She only gave Mako that same confident stare she had given Shin. "If you want me on the ground, you're going to have to force me."

"Fine." Mako planted his feet and raised his fists, letting flames and steam escape from his clenching fingers. The girl's eyes grew so wide the orange of his fire reflected in her pupils. She looked surprised. If he didn't know any better, he'd say that she had never seen a fire bender before...

Metal benders came up behind Mako to offer backup, each of them already finished with incapacitating their assigned Triad. Commander Yang, included. Their presence bolstered Mako's courage, and he repeated his instructions, his tone sharp and steady. "I won't tell you again. On the ground! You're under arrest!"

"Arrest…?" She repeated the word, looking as confused as her voice sounded. She looked at Mako, then glanced at the metal benders behind him.

She lurched sideways, Mako shot a ball of flames at her. She used her bending to pull all the water from one of Shin's barrel, and created a band around her that deflected the red hot stream of flames.

Cold water struck Mako in the chest, with strength that rivaled any blow from a pro bender. He rocketed backwards and off his feet, slamming into the wall behind him. Mako grunted as the force of the hit knocked the air from his lungs.

"My apologies…" The girl said, slowly closing her fists. As she did, the water surrounding Mako's chest turned to ice, fusing him to the wall. "I can't let anybody stop me."

The girl pulled water from another barrel, and it disappeared into a canteen beneath her cloak, then she ran to the exit, disappearing. Mako looked to his left and right, to see that the metal benders who had been backing him up were in the same situation he was in: stuck against the wall, frozen in blocks of ice.

With a frustrated yell, Mako struggled, and focused his bending into his breath. All of his anger and adrenaline and desperation filtered into it, and flames gusted out of his lungs to melt the ice.

"Mako!" Commander Yang yelled, straining uselessly against the ice that held him. "Don't! Wait for backup!"

"I'm not letting her get away!" With a final jerk, Mako crushed the ice surrounding him and he dropped to the floor.

"You can't take on a water bender on a full moon by yourself!"

"Watch me." Mako charged forward, ignoring Yang's order with a rebellious flare he hadn't let loose in a long, long time. His feet pounded and echoed through the halls of the factory. A door banged open and he followed the sound, finding the stairs and launching himself up each flight until he reached the surface.

He threw the heavy door open so hard it crashed against the factory's exterior and broke apart the bricks. The hem of a tattered cloak disappeared around the corner to an alley, and Mako sprinted after it. He rounded the corner, and spotted her halfway down the alley, trapped by a chain link fence.

"There's no where to go." Mako said fiercely. "Just come quietly, okay? I don't want to hurt you."

The girl turned to glare at him. Something about her eyes made Mako falter… she seemed so tired. Exhausted. "Then why are you attacking me?" She asked angrily.

"I…!" Flustered, Mako shook his head. "What do you want with Korra?"

"Who?"

"The Avatar! Why are you looking for her?!"

"That is between me and her. Now stand aside, fire bender. You are blocking my exit."

Mako grit his teeth and held his ground. Full moon or not… he wouldn't just stand aside and let this girl escape. Not without a fight.

She came at him, brandishing water like a whip from her canteen, striking at him. Mako dodged. Even with the full moon to help her, her strikes weren't as strong as they had been in the factory. As they fought in the alleyway, she managed to land a few waterlogged blows, but each of them were easy for Mako to recover from. To jump to his feet or roll away before she could hit him again. Her obvious exhaustion was making her sluggish, and Mako knew that was the only way he was going to take this water bender down.

She struck again, and he evaporated the end of her water whip with a gust of flames from his palm. Mako got close enough to close his fingers around her wrist, a wrist that felt bony and weak. He spun her and pushed her face first into the bricks of the alley wall, using his opposite forearm to brace his weight across her shoulder blades, holding her there.

"Gotcha." Mako said, over the sound of her frustrated grunt. "Now hold still." He let go of her wrist to reach for the restraints tucked in his waistband.

The teal fabric covering the back of her head rocketed back and struck Mako in the chin. With a yell, Mako stumbled back, the metallic taste of blood filling his mouth. He grabbed for her as she spun away, his hand fisting in her cloak. Fabric ripped. She lurched away from him. Mako reached for her.

Adrenaline, pain and irritation made him act without thinking. Orange flames shot from his palm as his hand closed around her upper arm, setting her shirt and cloak on fire. Her scream of pain and pure anguish filled the alley, and instantly Mako jerked away, feeling blistering and searing flesh underneath his hand.

The girl screamed again, slapping at the flames that were burning up the fabric over her arm and shoulder. Mako looked on, dumbfounded and horrified at what he had done. She put out the fire by bending water from her canteen, but Mako knew that just a spray of water over a third degree burn wasn't going to dull the pain.

Instantly, Mako's attitude shifted. He didn't come towards her with the intent of attacking, or arresting her, instead he held up his hands when he moved towards her. "We'll get that looked at, just-"

Mako froze in his tracks, his words choked to silence in his throat.

The girl was holding her fists towards him, her exhausted eyes glaring at him, swirling with hate and murderous intent.

Her fists had clenched around his lungs, his stomach, his throat, his head… Every inch of him frozen. Panic choked him harder than her bending.

A blood bender. The girl was a blood bender! Cursing his own stupidity, Mako's mind swam with the need for oxygen. She wasn't letting him breathe. When Mako had been in the clutches of Amon's powerful blood bending, he had felt a lot of things, but he had never felt like he was going to die. And the look in her eyes as she completely held him captive, Mako knew she could have killed him. Pulled him apart with just her bending. He would have asked for mercy, if he could have moved at all. He could only stare at her, watch the emotion in her eyes flicker from hatred to something else entirely.

Her focus shifted downward and glazed over, like she was recalling some terrible memory. "No." She murmured, and her fists slowly relaxed. "This isn't me… This isn't me!" The absence and delirium in her tone made Mako wonder if she was talking to him or talking to herself. As her fingers relaxed, the hold she had on his insides faded. He dragged air into his starving lungs and clutched his throat.

With a soft cry of pain, the girl cradled her injured arm, and Mako only stared at her, mystified. Struck stupid by what had happened in just a few short seconds.

"Okay…" She said softly, her voice quivering, and she didn't have to say another word. Her surrender was written all over her face.

Before Mako could reach for his cuffs, the weighted ends of a metal benders bola shot out of nowhere, tangled around the girl. Blue light cracked through the alley and her pained scream pierced the air when the bola shocked her into unconsciousness.

Mako took a step forward, watching in horror as she collapsed to the alley floor. He turned his angry stare to Commander Yang, standing at the end of the alley, holding the smoking bola launcher.

"Commander, what-?!"

"You're welcome." Yang said moodily, resting the launcher across his shoulder.

"She surrendered!" Mako snapped.

"You think I didn't see her blood bend you? I'm not taking any chances with these freaks." Yang gestured towards her as he walked away. "Get her up and get her to the station."

Mako's angry glare followed Yang's back as he disappeared around the edge of the alley wall. Frustrated, he stomped his way to the water bender girl and crouched next to her. He worked to disentangled her limbs from the cords of the bola, while blinking back water in his eyes and suppressing a harsh need to gag. She smelled so bad, like burnt flesh and body odor. The bola cord caught in the remains of her tattered and burnt cloak, pulling it free when he tossed it aside.

Before he picked her up, he did a double take at her face. Her greasy, dirty hair was a bizarre color of pure white, and it looked strange and ugly in comparison to the ruddiness of her red and peeling face.

"Who _are_ you?" He asked, before he hoisted her limp body up and into his arms. He carried her away, muttering that she was much heavier than she looked.

 **To be continued…**

A/N: So sorry this took so long to update, guys. I promise the wait won't usually be this long! The rest of my family and I have been sick for the ENTIRE month of February. Between the flu, a stomach bug, and a common cold, I've been down and out for friggin' weeks. Finally feeling better and ready to tackle this story hard. I'm so excited for it!


	4. Chapter 4

**Moon Child**

Chapter Four

"Detective Sargeant Mako?"

"Hmm?" Mako jerked awake, and rubbed the imprint of his own fist away from his cheek.

"You asked to see the girl's belongings when we were done processing them?"

Mako blinked the grogginess out of his eyes and stood up from his chair, reaching out to take the bin from the evidence clerks hands. "This is all of it?"

"All but her necklace." The clerk traced a finger over his neck. "She has a pendant. A green and silver one. She handed over everything, but threw a fit when we tried to take the necklace. We let her keep it."

Mako nodded, both in understanding and in polite dismissal, turning his attention to the evidence bin in his hands. The clerk left and Mako rested the bin on an empty table, to spread out everything that was inside.

The first things he pulled out where bundles of torn, dirty clothing. Just an extra pair of pants, her torn and burnt teal cloak, and a few shirts that smelled as horribly as she did. Mako flinched away from them and set them on the far corner of the table, as far away as he could put them. Next, he pulled out her water empty water canteen. It was made of some kind of dark, dyed animal skin, a long slender pouch that slung across the chest and plugged with a cork. Not an uncommon thing for a water bender to carry, and nothing really special. He set it aside.

He pulled out the most interesting piece after the canteen: some kind of weapon. A shortened spear with a grip wrapped in dark leather. The silver shaft was covered in small silver plates, overlapping and textured like fish scales. At the end was a tassel of coarse, dingy animal hair. Cream colored, muddied and frayed from age. The tassel was attached to the base of the spears blade. Mako knew that the tassel was an old accessory warriors used to put on their weapons, for the grisly purpose of keeping blood from making the weapon grip slippery. Mako shuddered and distracted himself from the grim thought by tugging the string that tied the leather cover over the sharp point on the spear. The blade was smooth and well polished. The rest of the weapon sported nicks and various patches of wear and tarnish, but the blade was pristine. Polished to a level of perfection that let Mako see his own reflection in the steel. No nicks, no imperfections, except for a subtle engraving of a yin yang on the blade.

An antique, definitely… Maybe stolen. Mako swallowed and set the weapon on the table next to her canteen.

After the spear, he pulled out a book. A book with thin rice paper pages and a flimsy leather cover, small enough to fit in Mako's hand. He opened up the cover and thumbed through the pages. It was nearly halfway full, the pages filled from top to bottom with symbols written in black ink, in a code or language that Mako couldn't read. He suspected it had to have been some kind of journal, and that suspicion was confirmed when he found a dip pen and a vial of ink in the bin.

Before Mako set the journal aside, a thick piece of paper slipped out from the pages and landed with a soft thump on the table. He picked it up and flipped it over.

On one side was a short series of symbols similar to the ones written on the journal pages, and the other side was a painting. A small, intricately detailed portrait that held Mako's attention and interest.

She was in it, standing regally in battle-ready armor. Armor that reminded Mako of something a fire bender would have worn two hundred years prior. The armor was black as night, and her snow-white hair was bound in a single braid that fell over one shoulder, loose pieces framing her stoic face and ocean green eyes. Beside her stood a man in matching pure white armor. And for as pale and white as the girl was, he was equally dark. His hair and skin the color of oil, his features blocky, square and sharp as hers were graceful and soft. The only similarity between the pair were their identical eye color. A bright, sea-foam green that stood out with alarming clarity against the backdrop of their bizarre skin colors.

Mako muttered the first words that came to his head. "Yin and yang…" He looked up from the picture to the one-way mirror separating him from the girl. She was sitting at an interrogation table, the wrist of her injured arm cuffed to the bolted-down table. She was slowly rubbing her forehead, blocking out the pain from her burn, oblivious to his presence. He looked back to the picture in his hand, to the weapon with a yin yang engraved into it.

"Who are you….?" Mako murmured, asking himself the same question he had been asking over and over again all night.

The door opened and Mako discreetly slipped the portrait back into the pages of the journal and set it down.

"Brought you a little pick-me-up."

Mako mumbled a thanks and took the paper cup of steaming tea from Beifong's hand and sipped it with a grimace. The tea was a strong, heavily caffeinated brew that was always fresh from the break room. Mako could never tell if it was the caffeine or the strong, disgusting taste that made it so effective in perking him right up.

"Has our blood bender said anything to anyone, yet?" Beifong asked, standing in front of the one-way mirror and crossing her arms.

"Nothing important." Mako muttered. "She only insists on talking to the Avatar… no one else."

Beifong scoffed. "If I had a copper piece for every time some vagrant bum thought their problems were worth the Avatar's time, I'd finally be able to retire."

Mako took another sip of his tea and didn't say anything.

"I had a little chat with Commander Yang." Beifong continued, drinking her own tea, her shrewd green eyes staring at the girl through the glass. "He said you defied his orders and chased after her alone."

"I did."

"Mmm." Beifong nodded. "If anybody asks, I ripped you a new one and wrote you up for it."

Mako smiled. "Thanks, Chief."

"Yang told me that he saved you. She was blood bending you before he shot her with the bola."

"That's a lie." Mako countered sharply. "She had given up. He tazed her after she surrendered."

"So she didn't blood bend you?"

"No, no. She did…" Mako took a deep breath to soften his anger. "She did but she… stopped. "

"What?"

"I know it sounds weird, but it's the truth. She freaking had me and she just… let go and gave up. Then the Commander tazed her."

"Interesting." Beifong said flatly, turning away from the window to absently look over the table of her things. "Doesn't really matter if she stopped or not. The prosecutor is still gonna eat her for lunch. They don't really take kindly to blood benders around here… especially after Amon."

A vague sense of injustice nagged the back of Mako's exhausted brain. He opened his mouth and promptly shut it when the door opened, again.

"Mako!" Korra shut the door behind her and gave Mako one of her scariest disapproving frowns. "What are you still doing here? It's almost noon! The graveyard shift ended four hours ago, why are you still here?"

"What, no, it's not noon, it's…" Mako checked his pocket watch and fell silent. "Oh."

"Yeah, 'oh'. Come on, you need to go home. Sleep. You're not gonna bail on your belated birthday celebration because you're too tired." Korra grabbed Mako's arm and tried to tow him out the door, but Mako dug in his heels and pulled away.

"No, Korra, I can't. I'm a little busy." Mako jabbed a thumb towards the one way mirror, and the white haired girl on the other side.

"Who's that?" Korra asked, stepping up beside Beifong to look into the interrogation room.

"Mako arrested her in last night's raid. Some bum that was hanging around the Triads."

"Her arm…!" Korra said. "It's burned. Hasn't she been offered any medical attention?"

"Of course she has!" Beifong and Mako protested together.

"She refused all of it." Mako added softly. "She only wants to talk to you, actually."

"Okay, then. I'll talk to her."

Mako stopped Korra before she could go into the interrogation room. "Hang on a second… She's being detained for blood bending, Korra."

"It doesn't matter. She won't be able to blood bend me, and she still deserves dignity and respect. I'll go in there, talk to her and heal her right up. It'll be fine." Korra smiled and gave Mako's shoulder a playful punch. "Besides. You got my back, right?"

"Always."

When Korra disappeared behind the door that lead into the interrogation room, Mako went back to the one way mirror. He made sure Beifong wasn't paying attention, and he pulled the little portrait out of the pages of the journal, and slipped it into his pocket.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

In all of Ula's life, she had never experienced the pain of a burn. She had suffered some cuts, a lot of bruises and even a broken hand from training, but never a burn. The pain was so bad, she didn't put up a fight when strangers took her belongings. She managed to keep her head enough to keep them from taking Raki. They could take her clothes, her journal, even her weapon, but she wouldn't let anybody take Raki. She kept him safe in the necklace around her throat. The green gem was warm, vibrating against her chest. Raki was aware of everything that was going on, and was begging to be set free, to retaliate against the ones who had hurt her and kept her captive.

"Not until it's absolutely necessary, Raki. Just stay calm…" She whispered to him, rubbing her forehead in an attempt to block out the pain in her arm.

It felt as though the flames that had charred her skin were still burning as bright as they did the second they touched her. The fire had burned all the way into her bones, radiating excruciating pain into every part of her body. Yet all that showed on her skin was a bright red, open blister in the shape of a hand print, curling around her bicep exactly where that black haired fire bender had grabbed her.

What surprised her the most was that he let go.

The door to her little prison opened and she looked up. In the doorway was a young woman with chocolate brown hair, tan skin, bright blue eyes and equally blue clothing. Ula sat up slightly, finding comfort in the familiarity of those features.

"Hello." The woman said, smiling at Ula. "I'm told that you wanted to speak to me?"

Ula was struck by the warmth the woman radiated. "Erm… You… are the Avatar?"

"Yep. That's me." She said kindly, grabbing the chair that sat across from the table Ula was bolted to. She dragged it around to sit next to Ula, turning it backwards to rest her arms over the back. "I'm Korra. What's your name?"

"I'm… I'm…" Ula blinked and shook her head. "I'm sorry, I just… I thought you'd be… older."

Korra smiled wider. "I get that, sometimes. You have a pretty bad burn on your arm, there." She gestured towards Ula's shackled arm. "Why don't you let me take care of that, for you?"

"Oh, um… sure."

With a quick jerk of her hand, Korra crunched open the cuff that bound Ula's wrist to the table.

"How did you do that?" Ula asked, rubbing her sore wrist.

"I can bend metal. Didn't you know that?" Korra retrieved a ball of water from a canteen around her waist, and gently took Ula's elbow.

"No, I didn't know anybody could do such a thing." Ula admitted quietly, and tried to ignore the funny look Korra gave her in response. "What are you doing?"

"I'm just going to heal this up for you." Korra bent the ball of water until it glowed blue, and spread it over Ula's burn. At first, Ula tensed the moment the freezing water touched her, but the relief it instantly spread through her made her muscles relax and her eyelids droop. "Better?"

"Much better. Thank you." Ula watched Korra work on her arm. "You're a healer…?"

"Sure. You're a water bender too, right? Can't you heal?"

"No." Ula replied softly. "That knowledge was lost to my people after the Great Flood."

Korra looked confused for a moment, then turned her concentration back to her arm. "You're going to have a scar."

"I'm alright with scars. Thank you."

Korra pulled back her ball of water and put it back into her canteen. "It's nothing."

"It's far from nothing." Ula said quietly, rubbing a hand over her freshly healed skin. "You're the first one who has been kind to me since I arrived here."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Korra rested her chin on the back of the chair. "You still haven't told me your name. Where are you from?"

"My name is Ula. And I'm from the city of Kuraq. I have come a very long way to see you, Avatar Korra."

Korra's expression was carefully blank, and she stayed silent for a long time, like she was processing exactly what Ula was saying.

And not believing a word of it.

"… Listen, Ula. You're obviously exhausted. You look like you haven't slept in days."

"You're not wrong."

"Why don't you take some time to get some rest. Get something to eat and get cleaned up. I have a meeting with the President this afternoon. Once you've had a good night's sleep, gotten some food and a bath, I'll come back and I'll talk with you for as long as you want me to… okay?"

Ula was practically bursting with all of the things she needed to tell the Avatar, yet her kindness was enough to make her feel deflated, buried under the weight of her fatigue. She saw the sincerity and the honesty in the Avatar's face… she was going to come back. She just believed her. And Ula knew she wasn't going to be any help to anyone if she was too tired to stand up.

"Thank you… Avatar Korra."

 **To be continued…**

A/N: Thank you so much to all of you who have reviewed and followed this story. I feel so fuzzy. 3


	5. Chapter 5

Moon Child

By jaelly-bean

Chapter 5

"She's completely nuts." Korra spoke over the loud restaurant chatter. "I talked to Beifong and we're going to put in a word with the prosecutor. Ula doesn't belong in jail, she belongs in a mental health facility. I know a place in the Earth Kingdom that's just getting started. It's a good place that can get her the help she needs."

"What makes you think she's crazy?" Mako asked, looking over his menu and ignoring Bolin's idle chit-chat with Asami.

"The place she said she was from. Kuraq?"

"What about it?"

"Kuraq is from this old Water Tribe bedtime story. I don't remember the details, but it had something to do with the Spirits choosing to destroy the city because it's citizens were corrupt and evil. I've been all over the world and I've never seen evidence of such a place. At least not with people living there." Korra shrugged. "Why so curious about her, anyway?"

"I don't know." Mako said honestly. "I just can't get her out of my head."

"Wait, wait wait wait!"

Mako groaned and rolled his eyes when his brother's loud, excited voice cut right through the middle of his conversation with Korra. Bolin leaned over in the restaurant booth until his shoulder bumped into Mako's, and he rested his head in his hands, staring at Mako with eager green eyes.

"Hold the press, does my brother actually have a GIRL on his mind?"

"It's not what you think, Bolin." Mako said dryly.

"Tell me about her! I bet she's smart. Pretty!"

Mako's nose wrinkled. He honestly didn't know if she was smart, or not. He had only exchanged a few words with her. Was she pretty…? Not really. Putting her dirty, greasy appearance aside, her creepy sea-foam eyes were too big for her face. He had never seen anyone so pale-featured, before. So much so that she didn't look attractive, she looked downright alien. And in all likelihood…?

She was completely out of her mind.

"I said, it isn't what you think, Bolin." Mako repeated.

"She's a girl that Mako arrested during the Triad raid." Korra explained.

"Going for the bad girls now, Mako?" Bolin teased, wiggling his eyebrows.

"No." Mako hid his face behind the menu, staring hard at letters he wasn't reading. "Can we change the subject, please?"

Asami rested her chin in her hand and leaned towards the menu that covered Mako's face. With her other hand, she grabbed the paper and pulled it down. "You're very defensive, Mako."

Mako threw up his hands in exasperation. "That's because everybody is picking on me, lately! No, I don't have a thing for this girl. I just feel guilty because I freaking burned her! Is that so weird?"

"I hit you with my moped and we ended up dating." Asami said with a nostalgic smirk.

"Yes, but you didn't leave me permanently scarred." Mako shot back.

"A few more healing sessions and the scar will be barely visible." Korra said gently. "I know you feel bad, but you didn't mean to hurt her."

Mako agreed with a surly nod, but didn't admit out loud that he knew it was more complicated than that. Guilt wasn't the only thing keeping her on his mind…

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

After his belated birthday dinner, Mako bid Korra, Asami and Bolin goodnight and retreated to his apartment for some much-needed alone time. After a quick shower, he climbed into bed, and was so tired, he didn't even get under the covers before he fell instantly asleep.

Even though he slept hard, he didn't sleep all night. His body just wasn't programmed to sleep at night, anymore. The wind-up clock next to his bed showed that it was still the small hours of the morning when he woke back up. Mako reached for the pants he had left crumpled next to his bed, and fished the portrait out of the pocket. Laying back, he rested one arm behind his head and stared at the portrait until he dozed back off again, letting it rest on his bare chest.

When the sun rose, Mako got up and made his way to the twenty four hour gym at the end of the block. He ran longer and harder than ever on the treadmill, lifted more weight for more repetitions, and by the end he was a sweating mess, and still couldn't get that girl out of his head.

Frustrated, he went back to his apartment, showered again, and decided that he had to see her.

On the way back to the precinct, Mako stopped by his favorite Fire Nation food restaurant and ordered two house specials and a side order of fire flakes, to go.

By the time he arrived, with his paper bag of food in one hand, the station was virtually empty. The day shift had left on their patrols, the only foot traffic in and out was the occasional officer bringing in a handcuffed perp.

"Good morning, Kana." Mako said to the middle-aged uniformed officer at the front desk. "Did you do something to your hair? You look good."

Kana shook her head and smirked, but didn't take her eyes off of the papers she was filling out. "What can I do for you, Mako?"

"I need a favor."

"If you're finally here to pick up your vacation request forms, I put them in your inbox."

"No vacation for me, just yet. Listen, that girl that I arrested at the Triad raid?" Mako rested his elbow on the tall desk and leaned over to look at Kana's paperwork. "Is she still here? Or did she get transferred?"

Kana grabbed a clipboard and flipped through a few sheets. "Nope. She's still here. Waiting for the prosecutor's office interview."

"Do you think you could have her moved into interrogation room eight, for me?"

Kana gave Mako a dry stare over the rim of her silver eyeglasses.

"And I need my name to stay off the visitor's log." Mako smiled and slipped Kana the bag of fire flakes. "Please."

Kana's brown eyes went from the bag of flakes to Mako's face, and her hand slowly reached up to pull the bag closer. "Give me thirty minutes."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Ula was told that she didn't need to wear the metal shackles, anymore. 'Because of good behavior', they said. Good behavior? Ula had been nothing but polite to the people who had taken all of her things and held her against her will. It irritated her that leaving uncomfortable metal shackles off of her was considered a courtesy, a privilege she had somehow earned.

They said she had a visitor, and escorted her to another one of their small rooms with just a table and a pair of chairs. As much as Ula hated the room, it's musty smell and poor lighting, she was relieved to hear someone had come to see her. The Avatar had promised to return…

She sat in the uncomfortable metal chair and ran her fingers through her freshly cleaned white hair. Ula had never been one to fuss over her hair, but finally having it clean after weeks of dirt and grease buildup was a welcome relief. The white strands slipped through her fingers, she swept it all over one shoulder and braided it, weaving the locks together until she reached the ends at her hip, only to realize she had nothing to tie it off with. Her captors had given her a fresh change of clothes after she was allowed a bath, just a formless short sleeved shirt, loose pants and cloth slippers, all an equally dull shade of muddy brown. But nothing to tie up her hair with.

With a sigh, Ula let the end of her braid go and it unravelled. She rested her cheek in her hand and blew a few stray baby hairs out of her face.

The door opened, and when Ula saw the man who entered her little room, she stood up so fast her chair toppled over with a loud bang. "You…!" She said, taking half a step back. Her first instinct when she saw the black haired fire bender who had burned her was to ready herself for a fight, even raising her fists.

"Hey, take it easy!" He said, his golden eyes widening and he lifted his hands to show her his palms. "I'm not going to hurt you, okay? I just want to talk."

"Talk?" Ula glared at him.

"Yeah, I think you and I might have gotten off on the... wrong foot."

"'Wrong foot'…?" Ula asked quietly, sharply. "Is that some kind of a euphemism?"

"A yoo-fa-what?"

"Euphemism." Ula repeated irritably. "It's a phrase that-oh, nevermind! What do you want?"

"I brought a peace offering." The fire bender said, taking slow, deliberate steps towards her and the table, like he was cautiously approaching some kind of wild animal. "I know that the food here kind of sucks, so… I brought something better. I was hoping that maybe we could… just talk."

Ula relaxed, and watched him set a greasy paper bag down on the table between them. "… You're serious?"

"Yeah. My name's Mako… Yours is Ula, right?"

Ula watched Mako carefully as he took a seat in the chair across from Ula's side of the table. He opened the bag and started pulling out smaller parcels from inside of it. Ula only stood rigidly, as close to the wall behind her as she could, staring at him with a harsh look in her eyes. "Why am I being held here? Why can't I leave?"

"You really don't know?"

"Would I be asking if I did?" Ula countered flatly.

"I guess not… Those men you were with in the factory? They were Triple Threat Triads."

"Should I know what that means?"

Mako stared at her, with a confused look on his face. As though he were trying to figure out if she was real, or not. "… They're criminals."

As much as Ula was getting used to that kind of look and attitude from people in this place, it still made her feel uncomfortable and frustrated. "And you think I was involved with them? I only met them that night! One of them promised to help me find the Avatar."

"I believe you." Mako said so easily, quickly, as though he had believed her, all along.

The simple admission made the tension in Ula instantly deflate. Even her shoulders slumped like a weight had been lifted off. "Then why am I still here?"

"The prosecutor isn't going to be pressing charges against you for being at the Triad factory… You're being held because you used blood bending."

The look on Ula's face slowly softened as she began to realize what he was talking about. "Ah… I see. Blood bending is forbidden here…?"

"Yes. Very." Mako said, still looking at her the way everybody else seemed to look at her when she spoke: like she was out of her mind.

"I see why it would be." Ula admitted with her voice growing quieter. She slowly bent down to right her chair and sat down in her place across from him. "It is a terrible thing to do to another person."

"Is that why you stopped?" Mako asked. "You could have won. Beat me and gotten away… but you didn't."

"It's true that I could have defeated you, but… I would have lost something far more important."

"What's that?"

"Myself." Ula studied the subtle expressions that crossed his face. "You are a Peace Keeper…?"

"Erm… Sure, I guess. I'm a cop."

"I'm not familiar with that word. But you find people who break the law and bring them to justice? That's what you do?"

"Yes."

"And I am the one who broke the law." Ula's expression only softened more as the realization settled in. "Oh… I suppose this all makes sense, then."

Mako was doing all he could to avoid looking her directly in the eye for more than a few seconds. As awkward as he seemed to feel about it, Ula wasn't at all surprised.

Her brother used to joke that her stare was too intense for 'mere mortals'. Back when her brother used to joke.

"Here." Mako pushed a thin cardboard box from the bag and slid it closer to her. "Before it gets cold."

Curious, Ula took the box between both her hands and pulled it closer. The box was warm and was releasing the most delicious smell Ula had encountered in weeks. The warmth alone was so pleasant, Ula hadn't really come across real warmth since she left home.

"Here." Mako slid a pair of sticks across the table and opened up his own box of food.

Ula stared warily at the sticks. "What are these for?"

The confused look that crossed Mako's face would have been comical if she wasn't getting so tired of seeing it. "... Eating?"

Ula sighed and picked up one of the sticks. She opened up her box of food and looked inside. Meat coated in red sauce sat on top of a bed of white rice, and she poked at the meat with the tip of the stick, trying to skewer it. "Seems pretty inefficient, to me…"

"Are you for real, right now?" Mako asked, his surprised expression beginning to look more horrified.

Ula sighed. "I don't even know, anymore…" She put down the stick and rubbed her eyes. "I don't even know what I'm doing." And that was the pure and honest, soul crushing truth.

"Here…" Mako stood up and walked around the table to her side. Ula tensed up when he touched her hand. "I'll show you."

Mako's palms were covered by fingerless gloves, but Ula marveled at the warmth that the tips of his fingers seemed to radiate on their own as he turned her hand over. Perhaps she was just cold, or that type of warmth was natural for a fire bender, either way it surprised her.

"Hold this one like this… And the other like this." Mako said, standing slightly behind her and speaking over her shoulder, reaching his arm along the length of hers to demonstrate. "Pinch the food between the tips, like this."

Blinking, Ula let Mako show her how to use the sticks to eat. It was simple enough, once he showed her how.

"See? You're a natural."

Ula finally took a bite of the red sauce covered meat, and instantly thought it was the most delicious thing she had ever tasted. "Sweet stars, this is amazing." She covered her mouth as she spoke and chewed. "The spices…!"

"Sorry." Mako said sheepishly, returning to his side of the table to sit back down. "I got you extra mild."

"No, no, it's perfect." Ula took another bite. "Thank you so much."

Mako cleared his throat and began to eat his own. "It's no problem. In a way, you're kind of doing me a favor, too. This way I can tell my pesky friends that I actually went out on a date."

"Date, like…. on a calendar?"

"... It's like you're not even from this planet." Mako said dryly.

Ula felt a genuine smile cross her face. Even if it was born from irony, it felt good to smile. "I suppose I'm not."

Mako leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table. He looked up from his food and stared her in the eye. "Where ARE you from?"

Ula let the silence stretch on, and she was impressed with his newfound ability to maintain eye contact with her. It encouraged her to be truly honest. "I already told the Avatar… But since you're asking me again, that must mean she doesn't believe me."

"She doesn't think you're a liar," Mako explained. "She just thinks you're… confused."

"She thinks I'm insane?"

"That's…! She didn't put it that harshly."

"Ah." Ula poked at the clumpy rice at the bottom of her food box. "I guess she doesn't have any reason to think I'm telling the truth."

"She told me that Kuraq is just a place from a Water Tribe bedtime story. That in the story, it was destroyed by the Spirits."

"Your history would probably see it that way. You wouldn't have any way of knowing what really happened."

"What really happened, then?"

"Mako… You are a much kinder man than I thought you were," Ula said slowly. "But I am tired. So…. unbelievably tired. Why should I tell you the whole story, if you won't believe me? You don't trust me… it's written all over your face."

"I want to believe you." Mako said. "But it's asking a lot. We have nothing but your word to go on, here."

"It's alright. I understand…" Ula went back to poking around the bottom of her food box with her sticks, picking up bits of clumpy rice. "Unfortunately, you'll believe me, soon enough."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not the only thing that's going to be coming out of that portal…"

 **To be continued…**

A/N: Sorry for that cliffhanger, guys. I had to cut this chapter a bit short. I was having to make some choices on how the conversation between Mako and Ula was going to go. Originally, I had intended on her spilling everything, but I decided that a gradual reveal of her mission would be a lot more interesting. Sorry for the torture. XD

Sorry I haven't really responded to any of my reviews. I'm kind of terrible about that. If you guys want to speak with me directly, I'm way more active on Twitter. I even post updates in my writing and art there, so you can stay up to date on the progress of the chapters. I also draw a bit, so you can see some original Moon Child art pop up there, too. My username is yacky_jackie . Come say hi!


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